scholarly journals A Cluster Randomized Trial of Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS®) With Swedish Preschool Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilianne Eninger ◽  
Laura Ferrer-Wreder ◽  
Kyle Eichas ◽  
Tina M. Olsson ◽  
Hanna Ginner Hau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Randomized Trial ◽  
Emotional Competence ◽  
Cluster Randomized Trial ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Social Emotional Competence ◽  
Thinking Strategies ◽  
Cluster Randomized ◽  
Emotional Knowledge

The preschool edition of Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies (PATHS®) is a school-based, teacher implemented universal intervention developed in the United States designed to promote social emotional competence (SEC) in children as a foundation for improved mental health. PATHS is delivered as a curriculum and it is based on theories and research regarding SEC, brain development, and optimal school environments. A majority of children in Sweden attend preschool, which is government-subsidized and follows a national curriculum focusing on both academic and social emotional learning. However, there is not so much focus on formal instruction nor manual-based lessons. The purpose of this study was to assess the short-term (pre- to post-test) effects of PATHS in the Swedish preschool setting. Using a two-wave cluster randomized trial with multi-method and informant assessment (N = 285 4 and 5-year-old Swedish children; n = 145 wait-list control; n = 140 intervention; K = 26 preschools; k = 13 intervention; k = 13 control) we assessed changes in child emotional knowledge, emotional awareness, social problem solving, prosocial play, inhibitory control, and working memory using structural equation modeling (SEM). We included schools with at least one classroom of 4–5-year-old children from three municipalities. We excluded open preschools, parent cooperative preschools, and family day homes. After random assignment, schools were informed of condition assignment. Research team members were not blind to assignment. We hypothesized that relative to children in control schools, children in intervention schools would evidence improvements in social emotional competence as well as other outcomes. Children in PATHS, relative to children in the control, evidenced improvements in working memory and prosocial play, but also showed an increase in hyperactive behaviors. Girls in PATHS, relative to girls in the control, showed improvement in emotional knowledge and reduced anxiety. These results are considered in light of efforts to promote positive development and mental health. The trial registration number at ClinicalTrials.gov is NCT04512157. Main funding was from Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, the Swedish Research Council, Formas, and VINNOVA (dnr: 259-2012-71).

scholarly journals School-based mental health intervention for children in war-affected Burundi: a cluster randomized trial

BMC Medicine ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wietse A Tol ◽  
Ivan H Komproe ◽  
Mark JD Jordans ◽  
Aline Ndayisaba ◽  
Prudence Ntamutumba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Randomized Trial ◽  
Cluster Randomized Trial ◽  
Health Intervention ◽  
Mental Health Intervention ◽  
School Based ◽  
Cluster Randomized

Improving mental health among ultra-poor children: Two-year outcomes of a cluster-randomized trial in Burkina Faso

2018 ◽  
Vol 208 ◽  
pp. 180-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leyla Ismayilova ◽  
Leyla Karimli ◽  
Jo Sanson ◽  
Eleni Gaveras ◽  
Rachel Nanema ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Randomized Trial ◽  
Cluster Randomized Trial ◽  
Cluster Randomized ◽  
Poor Children

scholarly journals School Mental Health Curriculum Effects on Peer Violence Victimization and Perpetration: A Cluster‐Randomized Trial

2020 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-69
Author(s):  
Melissa J. DuPont‐Reyes ◽  
Alice P. Villatoro ◽  
Jo C. Phelan ◽  
Kris Painter ◽  
Kay Barkin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Randomized Trial ◽  
School Mental Health ◽  
Cluster Randomized Trial ◽  
Health Curriculum ◽  
Violence Victimization ◽  
Peer Violence ◽  
Cluster Randomized

scholarly journals A Brief Introduction to the Multidimensional Intercultural Training Acculturation Model (MITA) for Middle Eastern Adolescent Refugees

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 1516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atefeh Fathi ◽  
Usama El-Awad ◽  
Tilman Reinelt ◽  
Franz Petermann
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Support ◽  
Emotional Competence ◽  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Cultural Adjustment ◽  
Intercultural Training ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Social Emotional Competence ◽  
Adolescent Refugees ◽  
Intentions To Return

The large number of adolescent refugees around the world constitutes a great challenge for societies. However, current models of acculturation have been developed for migrants, but not specifically for adolescent refugees. Crucial factors to describe adolescent refugee acculturation, such as intentions to return to their homeland, especially with respect to adolescent refugees with temporary residency and experiences of potentially traumatic events, are missing. Hence, the Multidimensional Intercultural Training Acculturation (MITA) model is introduced. The model proposes that two major concerns for adolescent refugees, which are socio-cultural adjustment and mental health, are predicted by intercultural and social–emotional competence, intentions to return to their homeland, and experiences of traumatic events. Moreover, the effects of three modes of acculturation are also proposed in the model. It is expected that these variables mediate the effects of intercultural competence, social–emotional competence, intentions to return to the homeland, and experiences of traumatic events on socio-cultural adjustment as well as mental health. Finally, it is also expected that in-group social support and out-group social support moderate the direct connection between the experiences of traumatic events and mental health.

scholarly journals Effects of the ACT OUT! Social Issue Theater Program on Social-Emotional Competence and Bullying in Youth and Adolescents: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

10.2196/17900 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e17900
Author(s):  
Jon Agley ◽  
Wasantha Jayawardene ◽  
Mikyoung Jun ◽  
Daniel L Agley ◽  
Ruth Gassman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Issue ◽  
Emotional Competence ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Level ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Social Emotional Competence ◽  
Theater Program ◽  
Cluster Randomized

Background Students in the United States spend a meaningful portion of their developmental lives in school. In recent years, researchers and educators have begun to focus explicitly on social and emotional learning (SEL) in the school setting. Initial evidence from meta-analyses suggests that curricula designed to promote SEL likely produce benefits in terms of social-emotional competence (SEC) and numerous related behavioral and affective outcomes. At the same time, there are often barriers to implementing such curricula as intended, and some researchers have questioned the strength of the evaluation data from SEL programs. As part of the effort to improve programming in SEL, this paper describes the protocol for a cluster randomized trial of the ACT OUT! Social Issue Theater program, a brief psychodramatic intervention to build SEC and reduce bullying behavior in students. Objective The objective of this trial is to examine if a short dose of interactive psychodrama can affect SEC metrics and bullying experiences in schoolchildren in either the short (2-week) or medium (6-month) term. Methods The ACT OUT! trial is a cluster randomized superiority trial with 2 parallel groups. The unit of measurement is the student, and the unit of randomization is the classroom. For each grade (fourth, seventh, and 10th), an even number of classrooms will be selected from each school—half will be assigned to the intervention arm and half will be assigned to the control arm. The intervention will consist of 3 moderated psychodramatic performances by trained actors, and the control condition will be the usual school day. Outcome data will be collected at baseline (preintervention), 2-week postintervention (short term), and 6-month postintervention (medium term). Outcomes will include social-emotional competency; self-reported bullying and experiences of being bullied; receptivity to the program; and school-level data on truancy, absenteeism, and referrals to school displinary action for bullying. A power analysis adjusted for clustering effect, design effect, and potential attrition yielded a need for approximately 1594 students, consisting of an estimated 80 classrooms split evenly into intervention and control arms. Results This study was funded in June 2019; approved by the Indiana University Institutional review board on September 17, 2019; began subject recruitment on November 5, 2019; and prospectively registered with ClinicalTrials.gov. Conclusions Many states have issued recommendations for the integration of SEL into schools. The proposed study uses a rigorous methodology to determine if the ACT OUT! psychodramatic intervention is a cost-effective means of bolstering SEC and reducing bullying incidence in schools. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04097496; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04097496 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/17900

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